lunedì 12 marzo 2018

We read on the New York Times Obituary from March 24th, 1905, that a certain Jonathan Reed, about 70 years old, was found agonizing on the floor of the mausoleum in which his wife was buried for almost a decade, located in Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn.To discover the man at the end of life was the police supervising the cemetery, who had seen the door of the funeral chapel half-open, while it seemed that no one was inside, and one might think that the stroke, which was suppressing the poor man's life, had caught him during a visit to the tomb his deceased consort ... in reality there are stories of love that cross every threshold, including that of time and that of life ....

Mary E. Gould Reed had died in 1893 and since the day of her death the poor Jonathan, afflicted by a loss he felt he couldn't bear, dedicated to his dead wife the time he still had to live, almost as if death had reinforced the bond that already linked them.After having built a mausoleum in which to burrow the remains of his beloved disappeared, Jonathan, a retired businessman, certainly belonging to the well-to-do society, elected this place as his future home: he furnished it like a sort of small living room, heated it with the oil stove that he had made build specifically for that place, hung on the walls the paintings that Mary loved and brought there her portraits, those portrayinh her as a child and as a young girl, the knitting work at which, at the time of her departure, she was working, a deck of playing cards and the parrot that kept them company (and when the cherished bird died, he was preserved -thanks to taxidermy - and left in the chapel on his perch).Sitting in his rocking chair, the disconsolate Jonathan found serenity and strength to live talking to his cherished wife who, as he had to declare to the press of time, surely was able not only to hear him, but also to answer him, since he was able to interpret her answers ... she, with her passing away, he had only lost the heat of her body ... for the rest nothing in her had changed, of this the poor man was more than convinced... she was not completely dead ...The most striking thing is that at the time all this was not interpreted as a sort of delirium dictated by the deepness of his sorrow or as a way to accept a pain stronger than any other, but the news of this unusual way of living of his, which spread quickly, crossed not only the borders of the state, but even came to Asia and Europe: more than seven thousand people from all over the world moved on 'pilgrimage' - even some Tibetan monks wanted to see with their own eyes that man who was still able to communicate with his extinct dear - only during the first year of this singular life: he was in all respects considered a sort of phenomenon!For this reason the news of his disappearance had such a resonance ... after spending nearly a dozen years of his life in the mausoleum he made build, Jonathan Reed ceased to live at Kings County Hospital where he was transported by an ambulance called by Dr. Meister who promptly rushed from Bradford Street Hospital after the call of the policeman who supervised the cemetery: he found him slumped on the ground, his arms protracted towards the coffin of his beloved, in the throes of a loss of consciousness due to a stroke.His remains were buried next to those of his beloved, in what had for years become their new home ...... And since then the door of that chapel has been closed, and nobody knew anything about its key ...

martedì 27 febbraio 2018

It was the year 1948: the whole Western Europe, thanks to the aid provided by the Marsahall Plan, better known in the States as the "European Recovery Program", but still under reconstruction after having paid such a heavy price as a result of the Second World War, when France, which, not unlike other countries, was still coming up the slope, decided to reward America: the state, but, above all, the population that had also rushed to help it.

Collage representing the XVIIth, the XIXth and the XXth century fashion

The "Friendship Train" made up of a good seven hundred wagons (the original project was to be of eighty!), filled with humanitarian aid for a total amount of 40 million dollars, had left New York the year before, after toured each US county, to reach Le Havre on December 18th, 1947.The idea was by Drew Pearson, a political journalist and well-known radio personality, moved by compassion for the damage that France and Italy had suffered during the war.The following year the French and Italian people, moved by this gesture of goodwill and eager to express their own gratitude, followed the suggestion of a veteran and former railwayman named André Picard, giving life to the "Gratitude Train" or "Merci Train": it consisted of 49 railroad freight cars, one for each American state - Washington DC and the Hawaiian Territory would had shared the forty-nineth wagon - and this too, as it was the case with the American Friendship Train, was a project based on the generosity of individuals.People were encouraged to donate as much as they could: children created drawings or sacrificed beloved toys; women donated handmade doilies and ashtrays made of broken mirrors, food, sewing works, puppets for children, letters, war medals; men brought wine, books, furniture and homemade toys.And the donations were so abundant that more than nine thousand gifts remained in France.Each wagon and every gift inside it was labeled with the emblem of the Gratitude Train, the image of a train, seen in front, to which were added flowers to symbolize the fields of Flanders.But it must be said that, with the humble gifts of individuals, they were included works of art and priceless historical artifacts: they were created by the designers, at that time most famous for their achievements, 49 models 24 inches tall (61 cm ca), authentic dolls built with skillfully shaped iron wire, complete with vintage hairstyles made of real hair, dressed with clothes whose details were just the same of dresses in real size, reproducing models that went from 1715 to 1906.And it is not a coincidence that the very first mannequin bears precisely that date:

“1715 Doll”, Marcel Rochas

the year 1715 marks the death of King Louis XIV, - Le Roi Solieil - whose kingdom had brought significant changes in the cultural landscape of France - some of the greatest artists and literary authors, from Molière to Rigaud, prospered during the period of his domination - and its political position within Europe, bringing the fashion industry to its peak by encouraging the production of tapestries and the Lyon silk industry.Also known as a great patron, Le Roi Soleil was able to elevate his nation to a position of cultural domination that continued throughout his seventy-two years of reign.Each designer then chose the historical period that inspired him most, referring to paintings and fashion prints of the era for which he had opted, giving life to an authentic masterpiece that knows no economic value and, at that time, La Syndicale de la Couture de Paris donated the entire collection to the Brooklyn Museum so that all the mannequins could remain united and be appreciated for what they are: a singular example of French craftsmanship and design ingenuity that is still admired and preserved today by The Metropolitan Museum of Art which holds the copyright of each of the images I am going to show you.The fabrics used to create these miniature mannequins were donated by the Union des Industries Textiles, the Fédération de la Soire, the Comité Central de la Laine, the Syndicale Général de l'Industrie Cotonnière, and the Négociants en tissus speciaux pour la Haute Couture.For sure this was a unique moment in the history of French fashion.And here you are the miniatures I think to be the most charming ...

"1733 Doll", Jean Bader (French)

"1755 Doll", A.Reichert (French)

"1774 Doll", Jean Dessès (French)

"1779 Doll", Lucille Manguin (French)

"1785 Doll", Maggy Rouff (French)

"1787 Doll", Mendel (French)

"1811 Doll", House of Paquin (French)

"1820 Doll", House of Patou (French)

"1828 Doll", Henriette Beaujeu (French)

"1830 Doll", Madeleine de Rauch (French)

"1832 Doll", Marcelle Dormoy (French)

"1866 Doll", Marcelle Chaumont (French)

"1867 Doll", Jacques Fath (French)

"1873 Doll", Madeleine Vramant (French)

"1876 Doll", Jacques Heim (French)

"1884 Doll", Nina Ricci (Italian-born French fashion designer)

"1888 Doll", House of Balmain (French)

"1892 Doll", Germaine Lecomte (French)

"1896 Doll", Bruyère (French)

"1902 Doll", Robert Piguet (French)

"1906 Doll", Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian)

But it was also an unforgettable moment for the inhabitants of New York, who organized a great parade to welcome the freight cars that, through the Atlantic, on the merchant ship Magellan, after leaving the port of Le Havre, reached on February 3rd, 1949 that of New York: over two hundred thousand people attended the celebrations organized there to welcome the whole train, but above all the New York wagon that was transported from Broadway to Manhattan accompanied by an authentic festivity.Once the United States were reached, the freight cars were divided according to the location of the states that they had to reach and took directions to the South, the West and the New England and put on open freight cars, ie without shores, since the wagons of the Gratitude Train were too large for the size of the railway tracks that ran through the States.Every single state organized committees that cataloged the contents of their wagon and many were donated to charity auctions, while others were destined to libraries and museums.

About me

I've devoted my training in passions which have characterized my temperament since my early childhood, such as an incommensurate love for nature, whether it's outdoor living, plants or animals, that today I express taking lovingly care of a large garden, mine, which calls forth a romantic atmosphere, with its plants and with the style of the statues populating it, and living with two lovable cats, with the cutest and adorable baby-bunny and with two very funny and affectionate geese, the fascination for the story as a justification for everything that we encounter in our lives today, for the objects clad by the patina of time, the propensity towards all that pleases and enriches the soul that led me to cultivate theoretical and aesthetic studies, and the love for home that I've always lived like a nest, which protects and must be protected, a nest that welcomes and that must be able to communicate the love of those who live in it to anyone is going to enter it ... Oh, and last but not least is the joy it gives me to transfer in images feelings and moods, capturing moments .. to rediscover ... in a photograph ...

They have no Robes, nor Names -No Almanacs - nor Climes But general HomesLike Gnomes -

Their Coming, may be knownBy Couriers within -Their going - is not -For they're never gone -

Emily Dickinson, F303 (1862)

Let us be grateful to the

people who makes us

happy;

they are the charming

gardeners who make our

souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

Every day is a little life,

every awakening a small birth,

every new morning is a small youth.

Arthur Schopenhauer

There is a road

from the eye to the heart

that does not go

through the intellect.

G.K.Chesterton

As the years pass,

I'm coming more and more to understand

that it is the common, everyday blessings

of our common everyday lives

for which we should be particularly grateful.

They are the things that fill our days with comfort

and our hearts with gladness.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Home is among the holiest of words.

A true home is one of the most sacred of places.

It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world's perils and alarms.

It is a resting-place to which at close of day the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow.

It is the place where love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into discipline and strength, where character is molded.

J.R. Miller, Secrets of Happy Home Life

A good character makes a special person,

charisma makes her bright.

But it is humility that makes her truly unique.

Mother Theresa

She burned too bright

for this world.

Charlotte Brontee, Wuthering Heights

I feel more and more everyday, as

my imagination strengthens, that I

do not live in this world alone but in

a thousands worlds.

John Keats

Philosophy and Art both render the invisible visible by imagination.

George Henry Lewes

A poet is a nightingale,

who sits in darkness and sing

to cheer its own solitude

with sweet sounds;

his auditors are as men entranced

by the melody of an unseen musician,

who feel that they are moved and softened,

yet know not whence or why.

Percy Bysse Shelley

I am not a woman, but the light

that falls on this gate, on this ground.

I'm the seasons, I think sometimes,

January, May, November;

the mud, the mist, the dawn.

Virginia Woolf, The Waves

All the words that I utter, And all the words that I write, Must spread out their wings untiring,And never rest in their flight, Till they come where your sad, sad heart is, And sing to you in the night, Beyond where the waters are moving, Storm-darken'd or starry bright.

A kind soul has featured me and my world

A delicate and lovely gift to Tenuta Geremia and me

My very first guests

~ THE FIRST LECTURE WHICH, SO MOVED, I HELD

It was such a great emotion, honour and privilege to me I won't ever forget, representing the fulfilment of a Dream in the name of my Love and Esteem for the Charismatic Figure of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, and the fascinating period which She lived in, the Victorian Age.

~ SAT. AUGUST 6th, 2016 ~

DURING HER STAYS IN OUR SANREMO. Working amongst archive documents, I wrote with so much love this essay (obviously in Italian), filled with photographs and paintings dating back to the end of the XIXth century. Click on the image of its cover if you wish to purchase "L'Agave senza Spine".